A sale of Sunset Recreation Bowling Lane at 1160 Central Ave. is pending, and if it goes through the popular bowling center could close by next summer, owner George Hoffman said Wednesday.

The lanes will continue to support all of their league activities through the coming year, Hoffman said, and any holdup in the deal, which likely needs a zoning variance and other approvals, could extend that. The pending sale was first reported by Times Union bowling blogger William Brouillette.

Next year will be Sunset's 75th year in business.

The Asian Market up the street, at 1245 Central, is seeking to acquire Sunset to allow it to expand its business into a larger building with more parking. It would convert the building into a larger market.

Hoffman, who said he's close to 70 years old, plans to retire. "The bowling business is not doing well," he said. League bowling began dropping off in 2000, causing several centers to close.

Hoffman is a member of the entrepreneurial Hoffman family, whose businesses range from carwashes and hotels to the Wit's End Giftique in Clifton Park and Hoffman's Playland in Latham.

Another Hoffman family member ran a roller rink across from Sunset, which also was converted to a bowling alley. After it was destroyed in a lightning-triggered fire in the early 1960s, a two-bay manual carwash established by the rink owner behind the building was expanded. George Hoffman said "that was more or less the start" of the Hoffman Car Wash chain.

Hoffman said he hasn't seen his cousins very frequently. "We're all in seven-day businesses," he said. With the possibility of retirement on the horizon, that'll change. "I always wanted to do a (family) reunion," he said.